Encounter with Serpina's Army (4)
"Swen?"
"No, um… please wait a moment."
If I go negotiate in person, it will be resolved?
Not anyone else—me, myself, have to go?
If someone else goes, the negotiation fails, but if I go, it succeeds?
Why???
The result was so absolute that I could not move past it without confronting the fundamental question, and my mind began to overheat all over again.
Yet no matter how many times I fed the question into my thoughts, the answer remained the same.
Not someone else. I had to go.
Honestly…
Every time this happens I think the same thing: if it would just give me a clear reason, persuading people would be so much easier.
I carefully gauged the others’ expressions, then opened my mouth with caution.
"I do not believe that fighting is necessarily the only answer."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean… that considering negotiation might not be a bad idea."
Even though this was the conclusion my own mind had reached, I could not fully hide the bewilderment of not understanding how negotiation was even possible; it leaked into my words.
After all, no matter how I looked at it, there was no reason for Serpina’s army to bother negotiating with us.
Negotiation only works when the other side stands to gain something.
If we have nothing to offer, why would they withdraw their forces for our sake?
Of course—I had no doubt this was the most efficient method.
Back when I was with Luna’s army, it had been the same during the negotiations with Lin. Negotiation always takes place in some form. That is why the answer is “go negotiate.”
But.
The difference from that time was—
"Swen?"
"Ah… yes."
Yuuri tilted her head and asked,
"When you say consider negotiation, do you mean we can conclude a ceasefire with Serpina’s army?"
"That is correct."
"How, exactly?"
This was not the Lunarien army; this was the Asius army.
And Yuuri, unlike Luna, was a lord who did not place unconditional faith in me.
If it had been Luna, she would simply have accepted “that is correct” and left it at that.
Yuuri was different.
To persuade her I had to explain, with clear logic, why my opinion was right.
Yet no suitable phrasing would come to mind.
"That is… something I believe I need to think about a little more."
"Think about a little more? Didn’t you already think it through and reach a conclusion?"
"I mean, it is organized in my head, but… because of my own shortcomings, putting it cleanly into a single sentence is proving a little difficult."
"Is that so? That’s a rather hard answer to understand…"
Yuuri rubbed her chin, making a gesture of mild difficulty.
"Anyway, if that’s the case, it’s going to be hard for me to take that suggestion. An opinion needs grounds, doesn’t it? Just saying ‘let’s negotiate’ out of nowhere is difficult for us to accept. Right now we aren’t even holding anything Serpina wants. And given her personality, I doubt she’d even respond to something like a negotiation."
If I had been given a little more time, perhaps.
I simply could not find the words that would persuade her.
If I could at least spread out a map and confirm how things were moving, maybe—but the information currently available to me was absurdly scarce.
To cook you need ingredients; this was a situation with no ingredients at all.
"So, Swen. Your opinion is rejected. I’m sorry."
"No. I understand."
Hearing my reply, Yuuri gave a bitter smile.
"You don’t have to feel too disappointed. Honestly, no matter what you said, I had almost no intention of negotiating."
Her tone sharpened slightly.
"They’re a nation we’ll have to clash with eventually. Even if we dodge the situation with a negotiation right now, it would only be temporary."
Well, that was true enough in its own way…
But my Intelligence 100 brain had predicted this; it was not merely the most efficient choice—it was essentially the most correct decision for the Asius army as well.
"Besides…"
In that moment, something rare appeared in Yuuri’s usually gentle eyes: anger.
"I really don’t want to negotiate with Serpina’s army if I can help it."
Ah.
I grasped her psychological state at once.
She did not wear it as openly as Anima, but she too must have passed through the hell of the Piviola Academy.
The imperial forces that had attacked them then traced their roots straight to Serpina.
To persuade her I would need not only logic but something strong enough to pierce the revulsion she carried… and I, who had only just made the prediction, possessed nothing of the sort.
Should I just give up on pushing this opinion?
The one who would suffer if she ignored me was not me but Yuuri, lord of the Asius army.
And even if we chose to fight, the prediction had said we would win…
It might not be the most efficient answer, but it was not a terrible one either, was it?
Moreover, while this decision might be overwhelmingly advantageous for the Asius army, whether it ultimately benefited Lunarien—the lord I would eventually serve—was something I could not yet know.
Of course, having various nations like Asius remain and hold a certain share of the continent would make the future work of unification far easier for Lunarien’s army than if Serpina’s forces swallowed more than half the central continent and became an unassailable superpower.
Yet the prediction that Lunarien would become the unifier of the continent had already been made; that outcome was inevitable.
Therefore, from my position, there was no absolute reason I had to persuade her.
Right. This is ultimately Asius’s business. Irene isn’t in danger, and there’s no need to stick my neck out too far.
I had already repaid the debt of gratitude for taking us in during the battle against the Brans army.
Rather than forcing the issue, simply letting it go was not a bad decision.
"…"
Zinor looked at me with a peculiar gaze, but in any case no further opening was given for me to insert myself into the topic.
After that, several more opinions were exchanged.
Seeing even ordinary officers of no particular renown freely offering suggestions to Yuuri, it was clear she was not an especially closed-minded person.
The problem, if it was one, was that there were certain matters on which she would never compromise.
"Thank you, everyone, for sharing your thoughts."
Yuuri rose from her seat and stretched a hand forward as she spoke.
"We will choose to stand and fight. I understand the views of those, including Zinor, who argue we should withdraw our forces. But if we decide defeat is certain without even clashing, we can never move forward. I will not send reinforcements immediately, but depending on the situation I may. I will speak separately to the officers who will take the field, so prepare yourselves mentally. Understood?"
"Yes! Understood!"
I bowed my head together with the others and answered in time with them.
So it was to be resistance after all.
Since we would win, I was not overly worried… yet a lingering unease continued to prickle in one corner of my heart.
"Everyone, return to your duties for now. Unless you receive special orders, I would appreciate it if you simply continue as usual."
As I left the royal castle—
"Swen."
Irene approached with a worried expression.
"Lady Irene."
"Do we need to negotiate with Serpina’s army? Is that the most efficient course our forces can take?"
"It is."
"I see… Well, it isn’t anyone else saying it—it’s you—so it must be correct."
Come to think of it, Irene would believe me.
Within this Asius army she was the only one who had watched, ever since our days in the Brans army, as every one of my absurd claims turned out to be right.
"In that case, I am thinking of trying to persuade our lord once."
"Persuade her?"
"Yes. Lady Yuuri tends to listen carefully to her officers’ opinions."
"But how?"
"Well… now that you mention it, why is negotiation the efficient method? Do we hold some weakness of Serpina’s army?"
I hesitated for a moment over how to answer—
No. There’s no need to lie to Irene of all people.
—and simply told her the truth as I knew it.
"Honestly, it’s just a gut feeling."
"A gut feeling?"
"Yes. I simply have the conviction that it is the correct answer."
"Is that so…"
It might have sounded rather irresponsible and baseless, yet instead of arguing Irene nodded with a serious expression and said,
"I think I understand why someone of your caliber failed to persuade our lord."
"I am ashamed."
"No. Well, if your intuition is flashing that strongly, then it must be right. I trust you."
At Irene’s words of boundless trust, I found myself suddenly remembering my former lord, Luna.
Irene had not trusted me this completely from the beginning either. It was only after we had spent time together and shared many experiences that she came to believe in me naturally.
By contrast, Luna had placed her full faith and support in me the moment we met, the moment she recommended me.
How was she able to do that?
I found myself newly curious about her present circumstances.
I wonder if she is doing well?
"Thank you for your concern. Since it seems we will not lose the battle, you need not worry too much."
"Mm. All right. I’ll see you this evening, then."
After parting with Irene and leaving the castle, I raised my head and looked up at the sky.
Today of all days, the face of Luna—who had believed in me absolutely and without condition—rose vividly in my mind.
She had possessed a very fragile nature, yet those crimson eyes of hers had been intensely fierce.
Are you well, my lord?
I have changed lords twice already and am somehow managing to survive day by day.
Until you reappear at the center of history once more… I will do everything I can to stay alive.
With those thoughts, I set my steps outside the royal castle.
When Swen insisted that “we must negotiate,” the person who took the opinion most seriously was the national strategist Zinor, standing beside Yuuri.
Negotiation, is it…
Just why had Swen brought that up?
It was not just anyone—it was Swen.
Zinor held him in extremely high regard. He was already certain that the Brans army’s decline had begun precisely at the moment Swen turned his back on them and crossed over to Asius; that only deepened his estimation.
To Yuuri he had said he did not know exactly why negotiation was the correct answer—
but Zinor suspected it was not that he did not know, but that for some reason he could not say.
If it is a reason he cannot speak of… is he colluding with Serpina’s army?
That was unlikely to be the answer.
The very people against whom he had hurled boulders from the sky had been Serpina’s forces, had they not?
Even if he were some kind of spy, no one would inflict such catastrophic damage on their own side merely to deceive the enemy.
Thinking along those lines, one possibility suggested itself—especially because it was Swen.
Magic… perhaps?
Swen himself claimed he was “asking the will of heaven,” yet given that he could sense mana and was dramatically elevating the skill of the true mage Reika, Zinor was convinced the man was a mage.
He simply chose not to press the matter because he did not wish to make an enemy of him.
In the long term the man might even become his son-in-law; there was no need to sour the relationship.
In that case…
Was Swen planning to use some kind of magical power—something neither Zinor nor Yuuri nor anyone else knew about, but which Swen alone possessed—to persuade Serpina’s army?
Magic was an unknown force; the full extent of its effects and influence was not precisely known. It simply had not been revealed to the world. It was entirely possible that some mysterious magic capable of breaking this deadlock existed within him.
If that is true, this could be a golden opportunity.
If they could successfully negotiate with Serpina’s army, they could end the matter without losing a single castle or a single soldier.
But if the method was magic, persuading the lord Yuuri herself would still not be easy.
In that case—
I will have to step forward here.
A proposal from the national strategist rather than a mere officer would have a higher chance of getting through, at least to some degree.
Of course Yuuri herself harbored hostility toward Serpina’s army—
but she was fundamentally a very wise person. From watching at her side, Zinor knew well that if things were properly explained she would listen.
Zinor glanced at Yuuri’s profile.
She seemed lost in thought, lightly biting a fingernail.
Biting her nails was a habit she showed when she grew anxious. As the man whose role was to assist her at her side, Zinor naturally knew it.
She was apparently fretting over the coming battle.
Now is not the time. After a little more time has passed… once Lady Yuuri has calmed down, it will not be too late to make the proposal.
And so—
in Zinor’s mind, Swen was gradually transforming into something akin to an archmage who wielded a mysterious power capable of even controlling the human heart.